Sparky, A Dragon Pizza Oven

A couple weeks ago, Mr. Mari and I drove to Watts, CA for an impromptu TEDActive Ron Finley gardening event. As we drove towards our meeting spot on 107th Street, we could see at the end of the block, there was a dragon. And it was snorting smoke. Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…

Sparky, is a traveling, eco-wood burning pizza oven and the fantastical creation of Ray Cirino, a creative thinker that happens to be a metal smith and vice versa. Sparky and her team of dragon pizza makers follow Ron to his gardening events and pass out pizzas for free (Dragon Oven is available for hire though).

At one point during the late morning, while we were waiting for a truck full of topsoil to appear, Sparky was ready to feed us. Ray manned the oven while Meg (above) and Camille prepped the dough and toppings.

I admit to being a little wary but the bibimbap pizza was tasty. The dough was topped with a homemade barbecue sauce and put into the oven to cook. Finished with homemade sriracha, pickled red onions, cabbage slaw, soft-boiled duck egg and cilantro, the pizza was as intense and eye opening as Sparky.

Wait, Ray's not done. Like me, Ray's got a bajillion ideas. One idea he showed us was the Captain Hook pizza cutter. He found the hand-guard (aka a pot) in a junkyard, added a grip to the inside and a pizza wheel cutter to the outside. Blammo! What fun! Mr. Mari said it worked surprisingly well too.

Ray also showed us his pizza volcano, an inverted ceramic bowl with a shallow well in the center for extra tomato sauce. Given Ray's creative juices, I'm sure the next step will be a way to get the sauce to spurt.